The Bulldogs Pull Away in The Second Half

SPIVEY’S CORNER — The St. Pauls’ Bulldogs defeated the Midway Raiders for a 62-22 victory on Friday night in a SAC 6 clash.

The Bulldogs jumped ahead to an early 21-0 lead in the first half as their opponents started slow on the offensive side of the ball. Midway finally got their offense going in the second quarter after keeping a drive alive on a huge 4th-down conversion down the sideline to set up an eventual Cody Ammons touchdown run.

St. Pauls failed to respond on their next drive after a couple of sacks put them behind the sticks and the punt unit was sent onto the field. Senior quarterback Tripp Westbrook and the Midway offense would start their next drive from their own 46-yard line with seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Bulldog defense was able to get in the backfield to shut down the run to bring up 3rd-and-14 but a pre-snap penalty would allow their opponents to inch closer to the first down marker.

Westbrook would miss his receiver on the deep ball and the Raiders were faced with a decision to go for it from 4th-and-4. The Raiders offense were able to convert on an excellent catch from senior wideout Andre Gregory to keep the drive going. Westbrook would eventually scamper into the endzone from 7-yards out on a designed quarterback run and after the two-point conversion the Raiders were able to slash the deficit to 21-16 with 4:21 remaining in the first half.

St. Pauls’ ate two minutes off the clock before senior running-back Tyler Parks broke free to score on a 35-yard run. The Bulldogs defense came up big in the redzone before the halftime buzzer with senior defensive-back Jayden Barnhill snagging an interception to put an end to a positive drive from the host. The Bulldogs upped the intensity coming out for the third quarter by holding their opponents to a three-and-out on the opening drive of the half.

Freshman Malikah Locklear took the ensuing punt to the house and the Bulldogs jumped ahead to 35-16 with 9:50 remaining in the third quarter. St. Pauls’ defense forced their second turnover of the night by stripping the ball from a scrambling Westbrook to set them up within striking distance of the endzone. Parks would power his way into the endzone from 3-yards out to extend the lead to 42-16.

The Midway offense failed to find any success moving the ball in the third quarter and their opponents were taking full advantage of their possessions by turning big plays into points. St. Pauls’ sophomore running-back Yoshua McBryde broke free for a 71-yard touchdown run to deflate the home crowd with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter.

St. Pauls’ started the fourth quarter with the ball from their own 35-yard line but got down the field in a hurry with junior quarterback Theo Seltzer connecting on a deep ball to quickly reverse the field. Junior running-back Quintell McNeill would muscle his way through a wall of defenders at the goal-line to stretch the lead to 56-16.

Midway’s sophomore running-back Jayden Stox would score a 72-yard touchdown to slash the visitors lead to 56-22 with 6:57 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs would put the game away with one more touchdown to secure their fourth win in conference. St. Pauls’ now moved to an overall record of 6-4 and officially solidified second place with a 4-1 record in the SAC 6 after the victory.

The Raiders were held to 147 yards on the ground and 184 yards through the air for a lackluster night on offense. They finished their regular-season with an overall record of 7-3 and take third-place in the SAC 6 with a record of 3-2. St. Pauls’ will enter the playoff’s next week as the 21st-seeded team in NCHSAA 2A East Region and they’ll hit the road for their first-round clash with the 12th-seeded Hertford County Bears. Midway snatched the 15th-seed in the 2A East Region and will open up the first-round on their home field against the 18th-seeded Holmes Aces this Friday.